SmartCover’s Real-Time Technology Revolutionizes City’s Response to Storms

When it comes to stormwater management, municipalities and utilities are dealing with mounting challenges. Population growth brings capacity issues, climate change brings increased frequency and intensity of storm events, and ongoing system blockages from fats, oils, and greases (FOG) result in overflow conditions that impact communities and environment.

Municipalities, in particular, are subject to ever-tightening regulatory oversight where high-cost consent decrees for sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are becoming the norm. The typical response is expensive capital upgrades to collection system infrastructure and high frequency scheduled cleanings of collection system segments.

Managing stormwater proactively

In the City of Winter Haven, Florida, heavy rain events contribute to sewer overflows that can damage property, harm the environment, and impact public health. The city is surrounded by lakes and low-lying areas, which makes managing stormwater especially challenging.

In the United States, many collection systems adhere to the Environmental Protection Agency’s capacity assurance, management, operations, and maintenance (CMOM) programs. Such measures include backup pumps, frequent cleaning in high-risk areas, capital projects, and flow reduction measures that maintain the pipes at their design capacity.

“While these programs can be effective, they often do not allow utility staff to be proactive, particularly with rapidly evolving events,” says Doug Boccuti, Florida Regional Sales Manager, SmartCover. “To provide better system understanding, control and response, the City was looking to enhance its sewer intelligence with real-time visibility of its underground infrastructure.”

Understanding the trends

The City of Winter Haven deployed a network of 24 SmartCover sensors and rain monitors to provide real-time sewer level and trend analysis information in typical sewer trouble spots. They anticipate adding another 30+ units this year to help build on their recent success.

Designed with the unique challenges of a collection system in mind, the technology transmits data from a sensor in the manhole to the Iridium satellite network to relay reliable, uninterrupted information throughout all conditions to a centralized, online dashboard and mobile app. The patented sensors are built to withstand the harsh sewer system conditions and can be installed and serviced without confined space entry.

SmartCover also provided an event management platform with localized weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to rapidly respond to issues before they became environmental, public health, and financial emergencies.

Revolutionizing response

This smart sewer technology revolutionized the City’s response, allowing changes in conditions to be monitored in real-time, while reducing the uncertainty around the conditions in the network. “Knowing the level trends in the sewers has helped the City schedule maintenance when and where needed most, and, more importantly, prevented overflow events,” says Boccuti.

Within the first few hours of installation, the City was notified of an alarm that helped avoid a sanitary sewer overflow. Since that time, multiple alerts in different locations have done the same. A few months later, a lift station failed due to an electrical issue. The City was able to pinpoint the exact location using the SmartCover technology and respond within minutes to prevent an overflow.

Today, operators in the City have successfully enhanced their collection systems with innovative smart sewer technology. These 24/7, silent sentries have brought the City peace of mind, knowing that their sewers are being monitored, data is automatically analyzed and plenty of advance notice will be given to their crews regarding a potential SSO.